Mar 28, 2016 5 min read

Fort Cherry’s girls track team has produced at least one WPIAL individual champion for six consecutive seasons – despite not having a home track – but one achievement has proven to be elusive.

The Rangers have never won a section title, finishing second in five of the last seven seasons. Though the program also owns a couple of PIAA javelin titles, the running events have proven to be their shortcoming. Neither the girls nor boys teams have earned a WPIAL medal in a running event over the past five years. The girls own a pair of fourth-place finishes during that span, but the best the boys have finished is fifth, which happened in 2011 with the 400-meter relay team.

Why the lack of success in track? Well, not having anywhere to run causes issues, and though Fort Cherry head coach Ben Maxin doesn’t like to dwell on that fact, it makes attracting the school’s top athletes difficult.

Oh, and the program’s success in field events makes everyone want to jump or throw.

“The biggest thing we struggle with is having kids come out to focus on running events and not be enamored by our success in the field events,” Maxin said. “We’ve had some kids choose not to do track and they’re very fast and athletic. Without having a track and having kids be able to stay after school to watch track meets, it’s hard to get them to want to race each other and get excited about the sport.”

With the two teams totaling nearly 60 athletes, it will be the field events that will have to carry the Rangers. Fortunately, it has one of the WPIAL’s top returners to count on for points.

Senior Koryn Jozwiakowski, a New Hampshire recruit, was the last Fort Cherry athlete to medal at the PIAA championships last year, when she took fourth in the triple jump. It came one week after she won the WPIAL Class AA title with a jump of 37-9.

Jozwiakowski is aiming to bring another state championship to Fort Cherry and extend the program’s streak of state medalists to seven consecutive years. Junior Shannon Relihan is the Rangers’ top javelin thrower and is throwing more than 100 feet in preseason practices. They’ll start the season with a tri-meet at Section 5-AA rival Carlynton. Brentwood will be the third team competing.

“It would be awesome to see the girls win a section title, especially because our girls work so hard,” Maxin said. “We’ve been blessed with great athletes on the girls side. They’ve had a lot of success, but we’ve come up short in those running events. It would be a long time coming.”

The success in the field won’t be limited to Fort Cherry’s girls team. Junior Devon Brown, who finished 11 in the discus at the WPIAL Championships last spring, exceeded 160 feet in the javelin at the Rangers’ first scrimmage – a mark that would have been good enough for sixth last season. Seven of the WPIAL’s top-eight finishers in the Class AA javelin last spring have graduated.

Senior Jake Schulz’s attempt in the shot put during a scrimmage went 44 feet. Maxin is counting on that foursome to offset some potential struggles in the running events, but he’s also looking for a strong freshmen class to find its niche.

Finding the right event is easier said than done. During a preseason scrimmage against Moon, FC coaches had to teach athletes the long jump during the competition.

“It’s hard, especially for us, because so many of the events – the hurdles and jumps – can’t be done at the school,” Maxin said. “If we can’t practice at Chartiers-Houston or Burgettstown, then they lose the chance. It’s hard for us to narrow down what they’ll be good at and it can be frustrating. It gets harder and harder every year.”

Coaching changes

Drew Denham had his position as the Avella’s varsity boys basketball coach opened earlier this month after he led the program to the postseason for the first time since 2012.

Denham, a former 1,000-point scorer for Mapletown, led Avella back to the postseason with a 6-6 record in Section 3-A and 9-14 overall. The Eagles lost in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs to Clairton, which advanced to a fifth-place consolation game.

In the three seasons prior to Denham’s arrival, Avella was 7-57. He was hired just weeks before the season after former head coach Joe Hough resigned.

Fort Cherry boys basketball coach Rob Baier resigned last month after three seasons coaching the Rangers.

Baier led Fort Cherry to a 15-53 record and did not reach the playoffs during that span. The Rangers were 3-19 this season.

Dan Happe resigned after one season as the Carmichaels girls basketball coach. The Mikes were 4-17.

Shulz picked for Penn-Ohio

Fort Cherry senior lineman Jake Shulz, an Alderson Broaddus recruit, was selected to represent the Pennsylvania team in the annual Penn-Ohio All-Star Football game, which will be played June 30 in Springfield, Ohio.

The 6-3, 277-pound lineman was a four-year starter for the Rangers as a defensive tackle and offensive left tackle. He was selected All-Black Hills Conference as a defensive tackle three years in a row.

Schulz finished his high school career with 132 solo tackles, including 26 for a loss, and also competed as a thrower on Fort Cherry’s track team.